Corrugated metal plate is commonly used in the civil engineering field and construction field to produce structures for a variety of applications in a wide range of markets. For example, corrugated metal plate is commonly used to create tubular structures (round or elliptical) and arch-shaped structures (semi-circular or half-ellipse) culverts/bridges used as stream crossings and vehicular underpasses. In connection with corrugated structures, limits exist in terms of the spans that can be achieved and/or loads that can be carried by such corrugated plate structures, based primarily on the material, the corrugation pattern and gage of the plate being used.
Buried structural plate bridges are comprised of a series of plates that are assembled to form a desired geometry. Many of these structure shapes are large in scale and can have a circumference in excess of 80 feet. Because of the nature of these structures, the structural demand varies greatly along the circumferential length of the structure. With an unreinforced structure design, an engineer must determine the greatest load demand across the entire structure and select a plate thickness that will provide the required resistance to the maximum load demand on the structure. This means that much of the circumferential width of the structure possesses excess capacity. Engineers can use computer modeling or other methods of analysis to determine the load demand across the circumference of the corrugated bridge structure.
Attempts to reinforce corrugated plate structures have been made in the past by placing additional corrugated plate material over the top of the primary corrugated structure in a corrugation peak-to-corrugation peak orientation. However, this arrangement results in an undesired unfilled space within the multi-layered corrugation structure. Other attempts to reinforce corrugated plate structures have included the use of stiffening ribs (e.g., angle-shaped members), but the attachment systems and methods for existing rib stiffeners are labor-intensive and difficult to from a consistency standpoint.
It would be desirable to provide a reinforcement system and method that is repeatable and install-friendly, readily allowing for variations in reinforcement size, spacing and positioning as needed for any given corrugated plate structure.